But you are using one of the greatest inventions ever made. The light bulb led to new energy breakthroughs — from power plants and electric transmission lines to home appliances and electric motors.

Edison’s light bulb with a bamboo-based carbon filament was introduced in 1880. Bamboo remained Edison’s preferred filament for more than a decade, until it was replaced by carbon-impregnated rayon, a ...

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You might have learned in school that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, but the truth is much stranger (public domain) It has been known for a long time that passing a current through a wire ...

In 1877, after Edison invented the phonograph, Johnson took the machine on tour, charging crowds to drum up excitement. When Edison patented the light bulb in 1880, its exact value was hard to ...

Swan continued to develop his invention and in 1880 his friend William Armstrong's house at Cragside, near Rothbury in Northumberland, was the first private home to be lit by electric light bulbs.